Tag: cronyism

Mahathir’s return to politics in 1973 was watched closely by other races, in particular the Chinese and Indians. His meteoric rise to the Deputy Prime Minister’s post in 1976 was of grave concern by many. His imminent Premiership caused a large number of migration by Malaysian Chinese. Despite the economic growth in the late 1980s through 1997, some 42,000 Malaysian Chinese opted to work elsewhere. This number includes some 14,000 Malaysian Chinese who were working illegally in Japan in 1993 (Shimada, 1994).

”If citizenship is conferred on races other than the Malays, it is because the Malays consent to this,” wrote Mahathir in his book ‘The Malay Dilemma‘.

“The Chinese and Indians coming from countries with vast populations are less concerned about good behavior and manners. In their lives, nobility, which is always associated with breeding, was totally absent. Age and riches are the only things they defer to,” he added.

Calling for reforms such as the mandatory use of tamper-proof scales, Mahathir wrote of scales that can be used to shortchange customers and said, ”The small-time Chinese retailer is adept at this practice and unscrupulous enough to use it as a weapon in competition.”

Mahathir was the ultra-Malay to many including the Malays themselves. Fears of race clashes haunted the voters during the run-up to the 1982 General Elections. I remember being sent to Mimaland in Gombak with Datuk Latt Shariman (President, E-Sports Malaysia) on polling day in case something bad happens. It was the first General Elections under Mahathir and it was called more than a year before the then-mandate ended. Public rallies were banned citing ‘security’ reasons and only indoor gatherings and house-to-house canvassing were allowed (Lim Kit Siang, 22 March 1982).

Even though Malaysia’s economic growth peaked at 8 percent in the mid 1990s, it was mired in scandals involving the practice of cronyism and nepotism. Lim Kit Siang wrote that Mirzan, Mokhzani and Mukhriz Mahathir – acted as companies’ directors, and that according to searches the DAP had made at the Registry of Companies at the end of 1994, Mirzan had interests in 98 companies, Mokhzani in 48 companies and Mukhriz in 67 companies (Lim Kit Siang, 16 June 1998). Compared to the 213 companies his sons were directors in back in 1994, 488 is the number of companies Mahathir, daughter and sons are directors in as at end of 2016 (Wakeup Malaya, 6 January 2017).

The calls for Mahathir to resign in 1998 for practising nepotism and cronyism culminated in the sacking of Anwar Ibrahim as his deputy in September of the same year, accusing the latter not only of being a tool for George Soros’s attacks on the country’s financial system but also for leading a morally-corrupted life. Lim Kit Siang and other Opposition leaders were quick to embrace Anwar, acccepting him into their fold when it was just a year earlier that the late Karpal Singh had made mention of allegations of sexual misconducts against Anwar in a Parliamentary sitting – a scene not much different to Lim Kit Siang’s immediate acceptance of Mahathir after decades of mudslinging the latter.

Anti-Mahathir demonstrations were held almost daily and then held every Friday afternoon at the National Mosque. These demonstrations were quelled using brute force. The ‘Reformasi’ movement was born, and the likes of theatre-practitioners such as Jo Kukathas were seen on the streets and interviewed by Maria Ressa saying “Enough is Enough” to Mahathir. Anwar and several other pro-Reformasi and UMNO leaders critical of Mahathir were arrested without trial under the ISA including current DPM Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.

Parti Keadilan Rakyat, then known by its acronym ADIL, was born out of hatred towards Mahathir, with the aim of toppling him and installing Anwar Ibrahim. The 1999 General Elections saw how Mahathir suffered a pyrrhic victory, losing grounds in Kelantan and his homestate of Kedah, while losing Terengganu to PAS. Mahathir-loyalists such as Ramli Ngah Talib, Megat Junid Megat Ayub and Sanusi Junid lost their seats. That was the beginning of the sounding of the death knell for Mahathir’s virtually unchallenged reign. During the UMNO General Assembly of 2002, he announced his resignation from party posts as well as Malaysia’s Prime Minister.

Ever since then, with the more open administrations of Pak Lah and Najib Razak, Mahathir became one of the targets of the Opposition in their blog posts, press statements as well as ceramahs.

In June 2012, Mahathir’s newly-made best friend even suggested that Mahathir is tried for his part in the BNM Forex scandal, hinting Egyptian Hosni Mubarak’s imprisonment as a comparison (Lim Kit Siang, 3 June 2012).

But all is forgotten and forgiven now, even when Mahathir admitted that his apology was only customary and not sincere. Despite veiled objections from Anwar and Azmin Ali’s camp, Mahathir was named at a Pakatan convention as their Prime Minister of choice albeit interim. This underscores the fact that the leadership of Pakatans parties do not trust the younger generation to lead the coalition as the position of the elders and powers that come with the position, may be undermined by the younger ones.

The signal of dissent is clear. Azmin only attended the convention for a while, not waiting for the announcement to be made while Karpal Singh’s daughter, Sangeet Kaur Deo, has hit out at Pakatan which probably is suffering from a dearth of capable young leaders. Even Mahathir once quipped that Anwar, who is 22 years his junior, may be too old to become a Prime Minister.

On Facebook, we are seeing people in their 40s and 50s voicing out their concern over Pakatan’s choice of Prime Minister, alarmed that the monster they have put behind them, could very well jump out from underneath the bed and into their lives again.

But it does not stop Mahathir from wanting to become the Prime Minister. He once hinted that he may have to consider becoming the PM again, underscoring the fact that he does not trust anyone else.

“I may be 93 but at 71 Anwar is much older!”

Wan Azizah may be blind to the fact that Mahathir had once denied the Premiership to her husband and went as far as making sure Anwar went to jail to keep him out of the way, while Lim Kit Siang is only friends with Mahathir because he needs the Malay votes to ensure Pakatan’s seats are sustained after the departure of PAS from the now-defunct Pakatan Rakyat.

Will Mahathir be willing to step aside for Anwar Ibrahim or whoever else younger who would be more acceptable to the younger and middle-aged generation aware of his antics? I doubt. But as Sangeet mentioned above, it will be a return to Mahathirism, an era of abuse of power, cronyism and nepotism that the Reformasi movement was totally against.

Somehow, it seems that the Reformasi movement has become a tool for what it was totally against – ushering Mahathir into the premiership and welcoming again abuse of pwer, nepotism and cronyism.

It is unbelievably that the DAP leadership would not know the Elections Act as well as the Federal Constitution’s articles on taking up another country’s citizenship.

But of course the DAP is in the business of duping the rakyat into believing that it is fighting for the rakyat when all they want is the power and to be in positions where they can make money out of the rakyat.

Else why should there be fundraising dinners to fund Empurau dishes and also a RM305 million never-completed study for a tunnel?

DAP is just a bed of crooks, and those who voted for them a a bunch of stupid monkeys.

I was in stitches when I read Mahathir’s latest posting ‘Pentadbiran Kuku Besi‘. He wrote as if he had never oppress the people during his 22 years as the Premier. He is fortunate that the Internet was still in its infancy and was only introduced to the masses in the mid 1990s, and Google only came online using its own domain on the 4th September 1998, two days after Anwar Ibrahim was sacked from all government posts as well as from UMNO. Prior to that Google was hosted under stanford.edu. Not many of those below the age of 35 could remember the oppression Malaysians were subjected to.

And what has Mahathir written this time?

1. When receiving the membership form to join Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia, some say that they have been threatened by UMNO dan Najib’s government.

2. Various threats were made including not being able to receive BR1M, expulsion from UMNO, removal from Government and government agencies posts, not being given contracts, scholarships would be withdrawn or not given, banks will demand for earlier payments or not give loans.

3. But they prefer to be oppressed knowing, that with their participation in PPBM and vote for it in GE14, the country would enjoy better benefits.

“Rasa Utara” a restaurant chain serving, in my opinion, less-than-delicious food, now has taken up advertising spaces on Mahathir’s blog

4. They say that despite the pressure they would still join PPBM. And they would attempt to get more Bumiputeras including UMNO members to join PPBM.

5. The struggle to them means the willingness to face hurdles. The struggle is meaningless if it is just a walk in the park.

I am quite perplexed by this statement. Do people who want to join Pribumi actually make prior announcement to UMNO that they would be joining Pribumi? Or would they just fill in the membership form and submit to Pribumi without bothering to inform UMNO?

As far as my memory serves me, not one person has ever announced his or her joining another political party unless it is arranged by the receiving party for publicity. And likewise when the situation is reversed. So, why would there be threats and so on if no one knows of their intention?

In reality, millions of Opposition supporters continue to form lines just to collect BR1M handouts. Students continue to enjoy their scholarships despite going on the street to demonstrate against the oppressive government that continues to give them monthly scholarship money. And perhaps about 50 percent of civil servants who support the Opposition still continue to go to work and none have lost their job or got demoted for doing so.

And many merit-less Bumiputera contractors still get government contracts despite supporting the Opposition.

Expulsion From UMNO

This is the other reason for me to laugh out loud. If you are already a Pribumi, why bother about being expelled from UMNO? You cannot have the cake and eat it too!

6. Verily Najib is also desperate to break my spirit. Not only have my police escorts been withdrawn but now even my officers and cooks are being transferred. All my associates are being harrassed and threatened by the Inland Revenue Board especially those who have businesses. If all taxes have been paid there will be additional taxes imposed on them.

For those uninformed, the Office of Tun Dr Mahathir is under the purview of the Prime Minister’s Department. This means, the administration, staffing, budget and others come under the administration of the Prime Minister’s Department. In short, the salaries of the staff of the Office of Tun Dr Mahathir come from the Prime Minister’s Department.

Who is the Prime Minister? (CLUE: HE IS NOT A KUTTY)

Among the agencies under the Prime Minister’s Department (see No.49)

Isn’t it the prerogative of the Prime Minister’s Department to transfer in or out, any personnel from any of the agencies under its purview, also accord, reduce or withdraw any privileges given using the budget of the Prime Minister’s Department?

There is an old adage: don’t bite the hand that feeds you.

Even if there are Mahathir’s associates who are being harrassed by the Inland Revenue Board it could mean that previously they were only paying so much in the form of sales and services tax (SST) when under Mahathir and could no longer under-declare their earnings and have to pay higher taxes under the Goods and Services tax (GST) scheme introduced under Najib. All those who used to cheat the government and the rakyat of their earnings previously are now caught with their pants down!

7. Proton people are not allowed to speak to me, and my business associates are not allowed to approach Proton. It is Najib’s intention that Proton goes bankrupt and can be sold to foreigners for cheap.

8. My name can no longer be associated with Proton. Proton will be sold 100% to foreigners so the nationa car industry would be decimated. Only imported cars will be allowed to be sold in Malaysia. Nothing that I started will be allowed to exist. Let the local industries fail as long as Najib is satisfied.

Proton. A company that was set up in 1983 to start the national automobile industry.

With that, Proton once again asked for assistance from the government led by Najib Razak so that 12,000 Proton employees and 50,000 employees of the various Proton vendor companies do not lose their job. In your opinion, is it right for the government to use taxpayers’ money (using the favourite Opposition catchphrase) to assist a handicapped company?

Well, in the end Najib Razak’s oppressive government agreed to help Proton for the sake of the 62,000 odd direct and indirect employees by giving a RM1.5 billion soft loan.

And who is the owner amongst owners of this severely handicapped company that has no shame asking for help from Najib Razak’s oppressive government?

List of owners of Proton Holdings Berhad

Which Bangladeshi is that whose name is at the top of the list who said that his name can no longer be associated with Proton but got the RM1.5 billion injection from Najib Razak’s oppressive government? Does it make sense for the government to pump in more money into Proton just to kill it? Why bother spend even a single Sen if you do not want it to work out? And how can he say that Proton people are not allowed to speak to him? Isn’t he one of the owners?

…and businessmen associated with me can no longer do business with Proton…

By this statement, is this a form of admission that Mahathir has been giving his cronies contracts from Proton? Does this have any role in making this company severely handicapped?

9. Verily, many Malaysian are afraid of trouncing by Najib’s government. This is Najib’s democracy.

10. I will not give up and I believe Malaysians have the will to topple Najib’s iron fist government. They are not afraid. The more the pressure the more the hatred they have for Najib and his government. All are ashamed of the P.M. who has been accused and believed by the whole world to have siphoned billions of the rakyat’s money.

11. The rakyat and I are aware of the intention of the new security law. It is not about foreign terrorism because we have adequate laws for that. Its intention is to break the struggle against Najib.

12. This law that was never assented to by the Yang DiPertuan Agong and the Malay Rulers accords Najib the power to declare security areas and with that anyone could be held in detention without trial. This is worse than the ISA.

13. If anyone is killed, be it a member of the security forces or the civilian, there will not be any inquest (a magistrate’s examination into the cause of death) held. And family of the deceased will not be able to bring the matter to the courts to seek justice.

14. Actually laws like this cannot be passed without the signature of the SPB Yang diPertuan Agong. But Najib is not one who cares for the law or its regulations. He is the PM and believes that he has immunity from prosecution. His pet the Attorney-General will make sure of that.

15. These are all signs that there is no more democracy in Malaysia. There is only an iron-fisted rule, a dictatorship.

16. The rakyat will protest the destruction of democracy in this beloved nation through a legal process. InsyaAllah the rakyat’s determination will see to the end of Najib’s wrong-doings.

The National Security Council Act that was recently passed was drafted to enable all assets under the various government agencies to be unified under one command that is the National Security Council. It is not just for use in response to terrorist acts but also in times of disasters. We have seen how poor the inter-agencies coordination was during the floods of Kelantan, Pahang and Terengganu. The main reason for this weakness was the absence of a unified command to coordinate efforts using assets of the various government agencies.

The power to declare security areas is not something new. Under Section 31 of the Police Act, 1967, designated police officers have the power to instruct any person to stay indoors while Section 3(1) Public Order (Preservation) Act, 1958, gives the power to the Minister of Home Affairs to declare whichever area that in the view of the Minister should be declared as a security area. However, Section 18 of the National Security Council Act, 2016 gives this power to the Prime Minister and no longer the Minister of Home Affairs to declare security areas AS ADVISED BY THE COUNCIL. This means that the Prime Minister CANNOT declare any security area unilaterally. Is this not better than ONE person making all the decisions without weighing all the inputs from practitioners who are more well-versed in the matters of national security?

Do not equate the power to declare security areas to the power to declare an emergency which remains the power of the Yang DiPertuan Agong, not the Prime Minister’s, nor is it the power of the National Security Council.

And Mahathir should not pay dumb – he is the person who destroyed democracy; even the powers of the Yang DiPertuan Agong to pass or not a bill of law was removed by him and caused the bills that affect other than the power to declare an emergency, the Institution of the Rulers, the position of the Bumiputera and Bahasa Malaysia, to pass without having been assented by the Yang DiPertuan Agong.

The recent hike in toll prices have riled users up, including those who have no qualms about spending RM13.80 on a packet of Dunhill cigarettes daily; queued 30 hours for an iPhone 6s rose/gold version; and spend a ridiculous amount of money for Starbucks’s Macchiato Frap.

And they blame Najib for the increase on toll rates.

Virtually all the concessions agreement were signed during Mahathir’s time, and for some like the Maju Expressway, built by Abu Sahid, a good friend of Muhyiddin and crony of Mahathir, and the Senai Desaru Highway built by Ranhill’s Hamdan Mihamad were built in 2004. Both had their concession agreement signed before Mahathir stepped down. The Senai Desaru Highway had its Development Order signed in the late 1990s.

PLUS’s North South highway was built initialy by the government via Lembaga Lebuhraya Malaysia. Planned during Tun Hussein Onn’s time in 1977, it began construction in 1980, a year before Mahathir became the PM.

Between 1980 and 1985, the LLM built 366km or 41% of the proposed 823km of the highway at a cost of RM3.2 billion borne by the government.

In 1986, the whole project was transferred to UMNO-crony, Halim Saad’s UEM, despite being the most expensive bidder and having had no experience whatsoever in constructing highways.

In the end the highway was delivered two years late and the government then had to finance half of the RM3.5 billion budget.

Yes, our money for half of that RM3.5 billion budget. In fact, it was RM1.65 billion.

If you think that that was a bad deal, try swallowing this: we also now have to pay 30 years of toll, and also pay 10% of the bill every three years if tolls are not allowed to be increased. This is reminiscent of the rip-off IPP deal that Mahathir gave YTL that agreement has ended and not renewed by the Najib administration.

In 2011, Najib’s administration took over PLUS from private hands, restructured the deal and avoided future toll hikes. The government owns 51% of PLUS while 49% is owned by the EPF.

All the concession agreements are now no longer being subjected to the Official Secrets Act. I am sure there is a link somewhere where we can view these agreements and the terms given to the concessionaires. However, MEX has this far declined to open up its concession agreement and we must all call for the agreement to be made public as it affects us all.

This brings me to remember what Miss Lim Sian See wrote a few months ago:

The last few days, you people have demanded to seek the truth about the Tabung Haji land purchase from 1MDB as you say it is shameful, putting Haji money at risk, against Agama, etc – with a vengeance and with a vigor thus far unseen.

Now, Malaysia Insider (not always correct nor 100% truthful, I must admit) has bongkar certain Lembaga Tabung Haji deals that seems to be clear bail-outs of the Maju group that has actually caused losses of depositor money. http://tinyurl.com/lmuaz45

1) 1996,- LTH invested RM67m with Maju Holdings project in Johor – only for the project to immediately run into trouble:

Total loss to Tabung Haji: RM67m

2) 1998 – LTH paid RM436.38 million to Maju Group for two then uncomplete properties valued at RM267.92 million.

Total loss to Tabung Haji: RM168.46m

Other allegations include: -The chairman of Tabung Haji then was Tun M’s brother in law, the late Tan Sri Ahmad Razali Mohamed Ali – a clear case of nepotism.

– Immediate upfront payment RM220 million for a building yet to start construction even though Treasury guidelines only allow maximum of RM5 million – which was 15% value of the construction work.

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Let me highlight the differences between the deals then and now for you:

1) MAJU HOLDINGS deals of he 1990s – Tabung Haji paid RM504 million to a PRIVATE INDIVIDUAL COMPANY for assets professionally valued at RM267.92m – causing REAL LOSSES to TH of RM235.5m

2) 1MDB TRX deal of the 2015 – Tabung Haji paid RM188.5 million to a 100% GOVT-OWNED COMPANY for assets professionally valued at RM195 million (and secured further with another asset worth RM370m) . But will soon sell off at a PROFIT to TH for a few million.

See the difference?

Tun M time:

One is LOSSES to TH and payment by TH to a private company- money never to be recovered for assets worth less than half of what was paid.

Najib time:

One is PROFIT to TH and payment by TH to a 100% GOVT company – money – money that will immediately be recovered within a week for assets worth more than was paid.

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I am just asking you all to be fair and use the same enthusiasm, venom and vigor to seek the kebenaran on the Tun M era deals.

You have asked MACC, AG, PDRM to investigate 1MDB and TH and Najib.

Just to be fair, can you please also ask MACC, AG (actually already investigated and found wrong-doing), PDRM to investigate Maju and TH and Tun M?

And if Tun M is guilty as accused (or refuses to answer) then please condemn him as much as you have condemned others and please never again side with him.

Also find out who is responsible but make sure you ask about the case where Tabung Haji lost money and not the one where it made money.